Civil Unions pass committee vote in Colorado

Civil unions in Colorado moved forward on an early vote of 6-3 in the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.

According to a Feb. 2011 poll by Public Policy Polling, 72 percent of Colorado voters support legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples.

The bill is expected to pass easily in the state Senate where all of the Democratic members, who hold a majority, have signed on as co-sponsors. But the Republican-led state House could be problematic. Republicans hold a one-seat majority in that chamber.

Opposition in the House focuses on whether or not the bill contradicts the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud), who put that amendment on the ballot, opposed the bill, reports the Denver Post.

“It is as close to marriage as can be construed in Colorado law without using that word,” Lundberg said. “For that reason it is marriage and it changes the institution of marriage.”

There you go kids - even when you take the word "marriage" out of the equation, you can't get past discrimination.